Kindle DX

by Reader
(United States)

I took my mother who is 88 years old (has wet AMD) to try the Kindle DX at local library as a test prior to buying her one - Disappointed!

While the book print can be made large & readable, the commands on screen (at top or bottom) are quite small & cannot be changed.

The font for the Kindle's menu is just too small for my mother to use without help.

The menu list cannot be made as large as the book text although it was bigger than the commands/button labels


Labels on the buttons, even keyboard are very small & cannot be readily seen. (I had trouble & I have 20/25 vision & had to wear 2.5 readers!)

So anyone using these Kindles needs someone else to set up the books first! Anyone living alone would find it very difficult to download books or choose them from the menu list.

I really recommend the best thing to do is to try one out before buying.

It may be great for anyone who has someone available to set it up for each book.

Once started, a book will re-open to the last page that was read which is useful.

She needed someone to help, each time, just to move from reading one book to being able to read the next. (Or from one newspaper or magazine article to the next)

Also the voice for the Read-Aloud function is way too soft & not very clear - she can't hear it! (Even I had trouble hearing it)

Could not find a way to turn it up. Had to read the manual to find out how to use the very small key to even turn the sound on.

Our aim had been to buy then pack a large Kindle with a lot of books & give it to her to use to read but were disappointed by it & will not be buying it.

The concept works, but the on screen commands need further work, need to be much clearer to be truly useful for those with AMD or other low vision problems.